Kuroko no Ghost
by Raining Sky Guy
Summary: Kuroko Tetsuya has always been a loner. Not by choice but rather by his lack of presence. On the day of his sixteenth birthday, he receives quite the nasty surprise, but he will soon learn all about what has missed out on life, and just might not be bitter it happened. At least he's getting the chance to meet funny characters and he might be able to help.
1. Prologue

**A/N**

Before I continue this, I wanted to test the waters so to speak (and cutting it here kind of adds to the tension), so here's the prologue.

**Warning:** It's AU-ish. May or may not have bl. But most likely not. Nothing major though. Erratic updates since I'm neck-high in school.

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><p>Tetsuya had spent his whole life being ignored. Not purposely of course, the boy was too polite and good mannered for being treated like that. No, he simply didn't have enough presence to be noticed by anyone, and his parents weren't an exception. Though of the latter, Tetsuya was happy he could blame their work for that (they travelled the world either for a job or a meeting), since well, it's not nice getting forgotten.<p>

That's how life was for Tetsuya when…he died. On the day of his sixteenth lonely birthday he went to his favorite place in the world. If he walked—without getting run over— to the edge of the city, if he followed the mountain trail that led all the way to the top, there he could see a pristine white gazebo overlooking part of the mountain as well as Tetsuya's city.

That was where Tetsuya currently was, leaning his elbows on the white rail, gazing at the thousands of people that couldn't notice him. He wasn't the only one there of course, but the couple that was there hadn't noticed him either.

The shadow boy sighed heavily. "Happy Birthday to me. Now I'm a year older. A year closer to the end of my existence. I wonder if someone will notice me now that I'm sixteen?" He repeated the words he uttered in each passing birthday, the hope of having friends never vanishing despite everything. He shook his head to get rid of depressing thoughts and, catching a glimpse of dark blue peeking from his side of the gazebo's roof he leaned over. As he craned his neck to catch a glimpse of what that blue was, the railing gave a loud creak-

And Tetsuya fell over, along with a rusty portion of the railing.

But he didn't die yet. No, fate was cruel enough to leave the boy hanging by a hand. Tetsuya cried out in panic, willing someone to _hear _him for once. He felt a bit relieved at hearing rushed footsteps and he saw the panicked faces of the couple —one brunette girl pushing her redhead girlfriend back slightly in a protective gesture— peeking from their safe vantage point.

Tetsuya couldn't dare to move, his voice was practically nonexistent by now (he barely spoke, and when he did it was in a whisper) so the boy could only convey his presence by staring at them….

"Oh my god! What happened here?" The redhead cried out in alarm, a hand resting on the brunette's shoulders.

"Looks like the railing was rusty," The other —unnecessarily said, brushing a hand against the redhead's. "Thankfully nobody was there when it happened, it's one ugly way of dying-"

"Hey, are you sure no one was here? That no one fell?" Tetsuya's face brightened suddenly. "I thought I heard someone screaming-"

"….Dear lord, I hope you're wrong. Hey! Is there anyone there?!"

"…Maybe whoever fell…just _fell_. You know what I mean…"

"…I guess all we can do now is call the police to give them the heads up…" The leading girl whispered in anguish. Anguish that reflected —tenfold— on the hanging boy.

Was it too much to ask?

The ground crumbled under Tetsuya's hand.

Was it really too much to ask?

Tetsuya's weight did the job of pulling the piece of dirt he had managed to grab on to apart, sending the numb boy tumbling to his death.

Why couldn't anyone see him? Why was it so hard to notice him?

Teal colored eyes filled with tears. It would have been much better if he hadn't managed to hang on, if he'd just died without that last sign that he didn't exist for anyone.

And just before the trees started clouding his peripheral vision, he caught sight of the top of the gazebo. There was nothing there.

'_The icing on the cake' _Tetsuya thought as a wry smile curved his lips, as the ground caught his fall unmercifully, as his vision blurred before darkening. At least, luck allowed his death to arrive at making contact.

To be Continued…

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><p><strong>AN.<strong>

I kinda feel evil. And I was thinking that maybe ending it here would turn this prologue into a very angsty drabble. Poor Kuroko. lol

So, whad'ya think? You curious on what it's going to be about? Curious on how can this be a TBC when the main Chara died? No, nada? Alright…

Leave a review with your thoughts.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: **I hereby pronounce that everyone that fave'd this story after that prologue is a sadist :D.

Thanks tho, and everyone that followed as well!

**Warning: **I upped the rating to T just for some cusses... I blame Aomine.

Enjoy.

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><p>Teal-colored orbs opened to gaze at a shining blue sky. The sky…was really pretty. The boy felt as if he could float up to the sky, he felt weightless, bodiless. But that wasn't right, was it?<p>

He then remembered his fall.

Tetsuya jackknifed into a sitting position, head swirling. He was in the forest. The same one he had come crashing down. '_I am alive?' _Kuroko asked himself, an alarming expression of scorn marring his features. '_Keeping me alive after that?' _

Was this some sort of sick joke? To make Tetsuya believe he'd die, then… then what? Nothing hurt, had he really fallen? No, something did hurt…was it his head? Yeah, his head hurt a little…Maybe he had dreamed it all? Maybe he was still in a dream.

Tetsuya stood up, everything felt pretty real until now. He started to look around when he caught sight of a body. More specifically, his own body. Tetsuya got closer, morbid curiosity overriding any sort of shock of seeing his own mangled body like that. Boy, did he have a gruesome imagination. Standing next to the body's split-open head, the teal-haired male examined the injuries with disgusted fascination. So he had cracked open his skull, and left a pretty big gap, he could see his gray matter spattered on the blood-soaked ground—it looked as if his head had exploded. The rest of his body hadn't ended up any better—what with bones jutting out in every direction. But before he could truly start to disgust himself, Tetsuya turned away, scanning his surroundings instead. His dull headache had transformed into a pang of pain.

He looked down— wondering what else this dream had to offer— and was surprised to notice that he was hovering few centimeters off the ground. Almost as if he was a ghost. Kuroko for once forgot about all the disgraces that had happened earlier and wondered since when he had such active imagination. '_What a bizarre dream.'_ He told himself. But a sense of foreboding had settled in his stomach. The teen glanced back at the—_his_— disfigured body and he realized that the pain in his head was pure dread.

He couldn't…he couldn't be _dead_, could he?

Tetsuya ran a hand through his hair, feeling increasingly ill. Closing his eyes, he replayed the last moments he remembered.

He had fallen…from the white gazebo and then just free fell…to the ground.

But this…this _was _a dream, right?

The teen let out a life-weary sigh. Who was he kidding? He had died. He was dead. Nobody could survive such a fall after all.

But he didn't wallow too long in despair, anger quickly overriding his senses. This just had to be a joke. Kuroko Tetsuya had spent sixteen years being treated as if he wasn't there, and now that he's dead he has to spend his whole damned afterlife as a freaking _ghost_!? Whose great idea was to have an afterlife? The teal-haired teen glared at the sky —and whatever power existed above— even as he uncharacteristically cussed in a low voice. Why couldn't he have just _died? _What was wrong with giving Tetsuya his eternal slumber? Did he not deserve it? Had he done something wrong and now he had to wander as a fucking ghost that _no one _could _see?_

_Fucking great._

As if _living _being ignored by the world hadn't been enough. He sardonically wished he knew more divinities so he could curse them all. Not that it gave him any kind of satisfaction.

But now, Tetsuya had to calm down. There just _had _to be a way out. He just needed to find it. He didn't even care what the consequences were but Tetsuya was definitely getting his eternal oblivion. He wondered idly if he was the only ghost to ever try to kill itself on the first day.

He sure hoped he wasn't going to stay as a ghost forever.

Maybe he could use his living body…he turned around to find that his body wasn't there anymore. Tetsuya quietly panicked. He followed the bloody trail—which was the remaining evidence that he indeed had died— with his eyes, but it stopped abruptly. Close by, a faintly visible wheel-track continued. Before Tetsuya could curse his luck, everything went blurry and a fog appeared from everywhere at once. When he could focus again, Tetsuya glared at it and suddenly he jerked back surprised when a funerary van almost crashed on to him. He saw as a sort of macabre flashback played out…

He saw with morbid fascination how the police found his body —_now _they could see him? — and heaved his black-bagged body to the back of the van. Time then slowed and Tetsuya just had to walk to keep besides the moving van.

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><p>The vehicle eventually entered the city, where Tetsuya had a freak-out moment the instant a car zoomed right past him. After that, Tetsuya kept to the sidewalk as a good ghost kid; finally, the van entered the parking lot of a center. The boy correctly guessed it was the morgue even before reading the sign at the entrance.<p>

Deciding against entering —he had had enough of staring at his dead body— the teen paced up and down the street just outside the building, once again fuming in anger. In one of his rounds he caught sight of a tuff of dark blue. Of the same hue that had been on top of the gazebo…

Tetsuya saw red. He quickly gave chase, his feet carrying him farther and faster than before. The tuff of blue soon became a blue haired individual with dark skin. The dark skinned teen turned around at the last moment, apparently sensing him for the first time and Tetsuya lunged forward. His clenched fist connected with the other's cheek —to Tetsuya's surprise—in a hit and run. Apparently all of his anger had been in that punch because soon afterwards Tetsuya just felt drained, yet for some reason tears pooled in his eyes despite not even caring that the other could not see-

"Oi, you bastard what the hell's your problem!?" A hand rudely yanked him back to face an irked teen, surprise evident on the teal-headed teen.

Tetsuya would have been ashamed that he was being seen crying if not for the fact that he indeed _could_ be seen. As in _seen._ Realizing this only made him sob harder.

"O-oi! Why are you- don't cry you…c'mon don't cry!" The tanned male immediately fretted, panic winning over anger. And even though he had been the one who got hit, the dark-blue haired teen started apologizing as he guided Tetsuya to a bench —while he kept demanding that he stop crying.

Some long minutes later found the taller teen standing awkwardly beside the now-sniffling Tetsuya. "I apologize." The ghost teen finally said, as he embarrassingly wiped the remaining tears.

"Tch. Why were you crying anyway? And so loud?" The now-tsundere asked with a scowl on him.

"First I would like to know, how is it that you can see me?" Tetsuya inquired, hopeful sky-blue eyes lighting up in anticipation. The other tilted his head slightly as he arched an eyebrow at him.

"Well then, I'm guessing you noticed you're dead." He said without an ounce of pity or sympathy, Tetsuya felt like kicking him in the shins, but he settled with a deadpanned glare. "Haha, no need to look at me like that. I'm also a ghost, Aomine Daiki's the name. Nice to meet you." This successfully caught Tetsuya's attention, as his neck snapped up to see his face properly —because he was sitting down, not because Aomine was taller… Really!

"I-I'm Kuroko Tetsuya, nice to meet you too, Aomine-kun." Never let it be said that Tetsuya wasn't polite. Aomine stared at him with a weird face, before shaking his head.

"Whatever, planning on telling me why you punched me?" The pale teen's cheeks flushed red as his eyes were hidden by his bangs.

"…gize."

"What? Talk louder, you midget." The tsundere said, but Tetsuya ignored the jab. For now.

"I apologize for hitting you." The taller ghost's eyebrow twitched in surprising irritation before Tetsuya was bonked over the head.

"Gah! You're too damn polite!" Tetsuya glowered at him, yet the effect was diminished by his pout and by how he raised both hands to rub at his head in surprise. "And? Apology accepted, but I still want to know why-" Aomine's face cleared of emotion at seeing the other's face saddening but his lips remained closed. The dark-blue haired male sighed tiredly as he rubbed his face. What a bother.

"Never mind, for now. Tell me about yourself. How long you've been dead?"

"…A few hours I guess?" Tetsuya said uncertainly; this seemed to take the Yankee-like teen aback.

"Whoa dude I'm sorry. How?" The pale male didn't answer, but before Aomine could pry or apologize (he might have been a bit tactless…) they both jerked at hearing a loud honk. They turn to see a black van —that Tetsuya recognized and Aomine noticed this— heading out of the morgue, towards the graveyard just beside the building.

Tetsuya hurriedly stood up to follow the van again —since when had they been so close to it— with Aomine following suit. Both teens soon entered the graveyard and sure enough, they can see Tetsuya's body being lowered to an already prepared casket.

Aomine let out a whistle of surprise. "They sure are burying you fast. Normally takes a couple days at least…" But then a thought seemed to occur to him and he scanned the area with confusion. "Wait, where are your-? Tetsuya, your fami-?"

"Business trip. I suppose. And since I can see my name carved there, I am guessing that they were already contacted." The teal haired ghost murmured sadly. The dark skinned teen looked at the other before he clapped him on the shoulder.

"Sorry to hear that." He offered, not minding that he didn't get a response. As Aomine had kept looking at the graveyard's gate, he suddenly brightened up when he saw people approaching Tetsuya's soon-to-be tomb. "Look, people are coming." He informed the other with relief in his voice. Tetsuya eyed the approaching pair with mistrust. Just who-?

Oh. It was the couple from back then.

Tetsuya stared blankly at them as they say their prayers for a complete stranger they had never seen. He hated them more for being such a nice couple.

"Thank you though." Tetsuya whispered, bowing at their retreating backs, mouth turned into a bitter line.

"…So they didn't know you…Oh, here comes more-?" Aomine said just before another person approached with a vase of red flowers, passing right through Aomine and heading off to another direction. Aomine was now really getting suspicious.

"Tetsuya-?"

"We should leave. I already saw what I needed to see." Tetsuya voiced softly, eyes soft but carefully void of emotion.

Aomine finally had the decency of keeping his mouth shut. For the moment. He followed the other as they exited the graveyard and dark-blue-haired teen couldn't help but notice the slight sag in the other's shoulders. Knowing that this must be pretty hard on the boy, Aomine kept quiet as he followed him, in case he needed to speak to someone.

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><p>Tetsuya's mind was far from this place, wondering just what the heck was going on with his life —afterlife?— wondering whether there was actually anyone who would notice he had died. The only comfort he could find was thinking that his parents wouldn't be sad for much time this way. They'd soon forget about him, just like everyone else in the world.<p>

Sighing sadly, Tetsuya worried he might have annoyed the other and noticed to his surprise that Aomine was nowhere to be seen and that he was in a part of the city he wasn't very familiar with.

Feeling unusually tired —he didn't know which was worse, not sleeping for the eternity as a ghost or still having the annoying need to sleep even when dead — the boy just walked up into a hotel and snuck into an empty room. He didn't feel as guilty because it's not like he was using an occupied room or actually occupying the one he had snuck into.

Tetsuya, as always, welcomed the darkness of the unconsciousness.

(Tetsuya found it easy to sneak in since he just followed behind the cleaning lady. Exiting was a bit harder, but he managed.)

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><p>(&amp;)<p>

"Are you going to keep on coming here? That's depressing."

"Are _you _going to keep on stalking me? That is creepy." Tetsuya deadpanned, almost parroting the other, as he looked away from his own gravestone to stare at the other. It was barely the day after and Tetsuya's feet had unsurprisingly brought him there. What he was really surprised at, was the presence of the dead teen that still could see him… Though that didn't make him any less irritating.

"Hey! I'm no stalker. I have nothing else to see."

"Be a good ghost and go haunt someone alive Ahomine."

"Nah, it's way more fun to bother you, Tetsu."

"I never gave you permission of using my-"

"Yes yes. You can call me Daiki."

"I think Ahomine suits you better."

"So mean!"

The bickering duo then stop when they catch sight of a van stopping just outside the graveyard and a procession of students pouring out of said van. The batch of alumni marched their way behind their teacher and to both ghost's surprise, they trekked up to Tetsuya's grave.

"…Sensei." Tetsuya murmured in surprise, briefly looking at the saddened face of his literature teacher —who though hadn't always noticed him, seemed to honestly have liked him— to his classmates. Tetsuya watched in curiosity how quite a few were carrying flowers and how his grave was suddenly filled with life when they were all placed down. Tetsuya's former classmates then proceeded to pray and with the efficiency of an army, they wove their way back to the van.

Aomine couldn't stop the thought of 'how the heck did they all fit in in that minuscule van' and was about to make a joke of it when he was distracted by a pair of students that were still lingering by the grave.

"Hey," The first one spoke up, looking uncomfortable, " I know he supposedly was our classmate, but, really, who was he?"

"I thought you knew! I first thought we were going to pay visit to some poor guy that got ran over or something. I sure don't remember him…"

Both students then noticed they were the only ones there and hurried back to their vehicle, leaving behind a very tense silence among the dead. Aomine wasn't sure on what exactly to ask —nothing of this was alright; there was something very wrong in the boys' comment.

"Thank you for visiting." Tetsuya mumbled as he bowed waist-deep in the general direction of the departing van before straightening up and staring at the flowers on his tomb.

"Wait, what exactly was that?" The dark-skinned male finally managed to ask.

"What exactly was what, Aomine-kun?" The teal-haired ghost queried, impassive gaze waiting for him.

"Don't fuck around with me, Tetsu! Weren't these your classmates? How come they didn't know you?"

"What could have possibly given you that idea?" Tetsuya asked politely, already starting to walk away. Yet, he's stopped as once again Aomine's hand clutched his shoulder.

"Sorry, but I'm calling bullshit on that." The dark skinned teen glared at the other's back of the head. The other teen sighed tiredly.

"You got me. I didn't attend school." Tetsuya finally said in his ever-quiet voice. The hand clutching him let go and he turned around to face Aomine again.

"Heh, you don't look like the kinda guy that would skip class. Why did you, anyway?" The blue haired teen grinned, happy to have someone so similar to himself. Maybe they could bash schools together!

"…I was abducted…by aliens." Aomine backtracked.

"You _what? _Are you insane or something?"

"Who knows."

"You little…! Fine, I got it, you don't want to tell me. No need to tell such outrageous lies." Aomine finally relented raising his hands in surrender as he started to walk. He expected to hear Tetsuya's footsteps behind him, but at hearing nothing he paused. "Tetsu? You coming?"

"Right behind you." The polite boy mumbled, eyes shadowed.

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><p>Since Tetsuya had just followed behind the other ghost mindlessly, he was surprised to find himself just outside Maji Burgers.<p>

"Ok, we have to wait for the door to open so we can sneak in without causing alarm."

"Can't we just go through the walls or something more ghost-like?"

"Well, _I _could. But it takes practice you know. And right now I don't feel like teaching you." The taller dead teen bluntly said before returning to watch the door.

Annoyed, Tetsuya sneaked away from the other silently and tried to go through the building.

Nothing happened.

Well, not _nothing. _Tetsuya hit his head hard —that had been the first part of his body to make contact. Just nothing of what he wanted to do.

The pale boy stared at the wall as if it had been the one at fault before the teen relaxed and pressed himself flat against it.

"Mr. Wall, do let me through." He muttered under his breath and to his surprise, he could feel a tickling sensation all over his body and suddenly he was falling inside the restaurant.

Tetsuya regained his footing with difficulty and set off to find Aomine. He wandered back to the entrance doors and saw the strange ghost with an irritated scowl directed at the glass doors as he tapped his foot impatiently.

The shorter male approached him from behind, peered over Aomine's shoulder and said in a low voice, "Aomine-kun, what's the matter?"

The jolt in place, as well as the small shout of surprise were priceless. A tiny corner of Tetsuya's lips tilted upwards. He went momentarily cross-eyed as a finger was pointed at him, far too close to his face.

"Y-you bastard! Don't scare me like that! Where do you come from? How did you come in?"

"Aomine-kun," Tetsuya started, a hint of disapproval and concern tinting his face making the other draw back slightly. "I am a ghost. I just came in through the wall." He then shook his head as if trying to say he thought that was a silly question to add to the effect.

Aomine blinked perplex, before he opened his mouth to yell an irked retort, but seemed to think better of it and instead broke down laughing.

"Alright you smartass, you proved your point. Now let's get some food." He finally managed to say, wiping a tear from his eyes and fondly messing with the other's hair.

In the end, Aomine and Kuroko both 'borrowed' a couple hamburgers and a vanilla shake respectively, much to the latter's dismay. He thought they'd take the food and leave money on the counter but realized too late that he had brought nothing and Aomine hadn't even planned on paying.

"Tetsu, you're dead, why are you such a stuck up? Loosen up, have some fun, geez."

"I don't think it's necessary to steal to have fun. " The teal haired teen replied, still contemplating the shake in his hands. Aomine sighed.

"Okay, I'm letting that go 'cause you're a newbie. Ghosts don't need to eat, but we can still taste and eating is great in general. But whatever we take is not…uh, how to put this? It's like another ghost ability, you can basically make a ghost copy of an object. It's like if I went and grabbed that person's hat." Here he pointed to a living passer-by with a ridiculous helmet. "I can go make a copy and wear it. The copied hat would be invisible like me and the owner would still have his own hat. Useful, huh?"

"I see! It's a way for Aomine-kun to satisfy weird fetishes." Tetsuya spoke in a I-see-clearly-now tone, bumping his fist to his open palm. He was flicked on the forehead for his efforts.

"As if!" The grouchy ghost glared at him before smugly adding, "I'm sorry I don't share your hobbies."

His response was a quick jab to his gut that left the dark skinned teen clutching his stomach in pain for quite some time. Ignoring the glare thrown at him, Tetsuya calmly sipped at his vanilla shake still mulling over this new ability.

"And we can copy anything?"

"Nah, it's limited to non-living things and small stuff. For example I find hard copying clothes so I generally bully Kise into doing it for me. He's the best for copying stuff hands down…Though that also pisses me off the most."

"Excuse me, who is this Kise-san?"

"Oh, uh, another ghost. Maybe we can go meet him later, what do you think?" Tetsuya was momentarily speechless. Was he going to meet another person? Tetsuya felt like panicking, would this Kise notice him as well? Tetsuya hadn't had the slightest clue as to what he was going to do or say. "…Tetsu?"

"It is nothing. I would be glad to meet him." The boy honestly replied, feeling his palms sweating in nervousness.

Aomine arched an eyebrow at the nervous shorty before quirking a smile and ruffling his hair.

"Come with me for today and we'll go meet him tomorrow." Aomine said, slinging an arm around the pale teen's shoulders. He dragged him to his own hideout, talking about all kind of nonsense until he finally felt the other calm down.

Boy, wasn't this kid a bother. Aomine thought with surprising affection just before drifting off to sleep.

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><p><strong>AN<strong>

Too long? Too short? Too uneventful? You liked/disliked this ghost ability? Let me know what you thought! And what you'd like to see as well.


	3. Chapter 2

"BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Aomine-kun, it is not a funny matter."

"HAHAHAHAHA-HAoof-!"

Finally ticked off, the shorter teen had jabbed the other one again on the side, to finally make the other stop _laughing._

"Damn it, Tetsu, that hurt! It's not my fault you're so abnormal."

"I am most certainly not-"

"I meant you hair." The dark-skinned male cleared, noticing his now companion's sudden tension —though as soon as Tetsuya relaxed, Aomine dismissed the event— just to be met with a pout as Tetsuya tried combing his bed hair. "How does it even get that way?"

"I would not know." Was all Tetsuya deigned to answer, making Aomine snort before lifting teal eyes to meet his in something akin to wonder. "Aomine-kun…"

"What?"

"…This really happened did it not?" Tetsuya stated more than asked, clarifying shortly after, "I am dead. I am a ghost. And I met you."

"Uh, yeah pretty much…" 'Your point being?' was sagely not spoken, but was nonetheless answered —more or less.

"I am almost expecting to wake up. I fear so. But I know it is not a dream… Though I cannot be sure this is really happening either."

"Yeah, I get you. The feeling passes sooner or later though." Aomine answered off-handedly, ruffling untamed hair and Kuroko felt more than heard the tired edge that was inscribed in those words.

He had gotten used to it because there was nothing else to do other than accept it.

.

"Would it be rude to inquire the date of you passing?" Tetsuya decided to keep Aomine's mind focused on his questions instead of letting him brood on his own.

The taller teen stared at him, before rubbing the back of his neck in thought, "Hmm. Well let's see… I'd say about a- wait, it's… about two years." But before Tetsuya could quip with —would offering his condolences be correct, given that he was offering them to the dead himself?—the other continued, "But that's a story for another day, because I'm giving you a express tour of the ghostly side of this town. And also introduce you to Kise."

Tetsuya didn't comment on Aomine's vacant eyes a moment before and instead followed the teen around. It's not like he had been expecting that he would have had a perfect life given that he too, was a ghost.

* * *

><p>"So, since smarty-pants-san can already pass through a wall, do you feel ready to cross the street?" Aomine inquired, thumb stuck out, pointing at the ongoing traffic. Both otherworldly beings had returned to the ever-busy streets of their city to begin the 'tour'. The newbie's stomach twisted unto itself. Seeing the other's trepidation, the dark-skinned male shrugged uncaringly before walking instead to the crossroad a couple meters away.<p>

"Thank you."

"That doesn't mean I'm not gonna toss you into oncoming traffic one of these days. It's a ritual of passing of sorts. And it's fun." Aomine tossed back with a wolfish grin, enjoying the other's startled expression, minimal as it was.

The pair made their way across many streets, Aomine pointing out the best places to nap on, to eat, to get entertainment (for which he was promptly nagged; in Aomine's defense, he stated that porn was completely normal for a healthy teen like him,) and such. Aomine walked passing through the living as if they weren't there, hoping to see the newbie struggling to keep pace and not bump into everyone, but to his disgruntlement, the pale teen easily wove his way around people, keeping pace with him without effort. When Tetsuya inquired about the presence of other ghosts and how many they were, he was met with an almost bitter smile.

"Tetsu, why do you think there's an afterlife?"

"I would not know." Tetsuya replied with a small frown, but the other's eye-rolling made him try, "…But I had heard that ghosts are people that could not pass on due to an attachment or-"

"Or a regret." The navy-eyed teen completed with a sigh before adding, "there's not many people that die with a strong enough reason to remain, so we're not many. Some have no clue as to what they regret or are attached to, so they're more or less stranded here. When you woke up, was there something you regretted?"

"…That I wasn't dead." The words sprouted out of his lips before the ghost could sensor them. Tetsuya immediately averted his gaze.

"'You a suicide-case?" The ghosts both paused and stared at each other in surprise. Tetsuya shook his head softly, and at Aomine's suspicious stare, he added his voice to the negative. "So... how the fuck could you regret not dying if not?"

Tetsuya honestly pondered on this, not having thought of it and gave his answer with his usual poker face, "I guess, I was simply tired."

"Man, I don't think I get you." Aomine exhaled, a pensive frown on his face, before crowding closer to Tetsuya and slinging an arm around his shoulders. "Well, not like it matters for now. Hurry up, after midday Kise usually disappears and even I don't know where he goes."

And that was that, for now.

.

* * *

><p>"Hello there, my name is Aomine Daiki, nice to meet you!" The blond teen-ghost they had gone to meet happily said, shoving his face to Kuroko's personal bubble just to be punched by the other Aomine.<p>

"Kise, you copycat! Don't go stealing my name!"

"How mean, Aominecchi! Ne, isn't he a big fat bully?" He mock whispered to Tetsuya. The ghost stared at the cheerful other for a fraction of second, utterly surprised before he managed a coherent answer.

"…Yes, you are right."

"OI!" The dark-skinned teen barked out in annoyance, getting closer in case either of them needed to be hit (again).

"Ahaha, I like you. My name is Kise Ryota, the best dead model you'll ever see!" The blond openly grinned, slinging his arms behind his head, with an air of utter carefree-ness.

"Nice to meet you, Kise-kun. I'm Kuroko Tetsuya." True to his nature, the palest teen bowed politely as he greeted the other.

"Aha, you sure are polite aren't you?" Kise said with a laugh, as he curiously examined everything about this new ghost, looking a bit like a curious kitten. Yet he talked like a parrot drowned in an energetic drink. "Your looks are plain but really nice. Beautiful eyes too! Man, how do you have such smooth skin? I was always nagged to take care of my skin; especially that on my face but still yours far surpasses mine. Ever considered being a model? You wouldn't be _the _greatest, not right away I mean, but with a proper manager and proper clothes, yup, would've done great. Oh, we could have been partners-!"

Overwhelmed teal eyes looked up when the blond parrot winced —effectively cutting the nonstop stream of words— to see an irked Aomine giving Kise yet another soft slap on the head.

"Okay, shut your mouth, my ears are ringing. What are you, a girl?"

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Kise turned to him with a pout making the other snort.

"My mistake, girls don't talk that much."

"Aominecchi!"

* * *

><p>"So what brings you 'ver here?" Kise finally asked, once all three of them had settled down inside a school's premises —and the model had finally stopped whining.<p>

"He just died, so I'm giving him a quick tour and also to meet you. Tetsu, if you ever need something material he's the one. I'd say it's for free, but the cost for each thing is a nonsensical babble of talk." Aomine stated Tetsuya's decease as if he had just moved to town —which, in a sense, might just be more true than one might think— and Kise just pouted at the insult before turning to Tetsuya. To find no one there. He yelped in surprise, making Aomine look and scowl when Tetsuya wasn't there.

"…Excuse me…" Two heads made twin turns around to find the disappeared ghost hovering just behind them, an empty can in his hand. "I am over here," he stated obviously, before looking down at his hand, "I apologize, I just could not leave this on the floor. If you excuse me…" That said, the ghost walked over to the next trashcan, before returning to find Kise still staring at him.

"Kise-kun, is there a problem?"

"Kurokocchi, what was that, that was awesome!" Kise droned on about that vanishing act, making Tetsuya tense up —though neither of the others commented on it — before ending obviously confused.

Meanwhile, Aomine leaned back, a small smirk on his face. It hadn't taken even two hours for Tetsu to be respected by ever-vain Kise Ryouta. Or at the very least to be a candidate for respect. That, by itself, was pretty darn respectable. And… well, he wasn't one to mother-hen over others, but he _was _relieved. A little bit.

Once a rapidly blinking —out of sheer confusion— Tetsuya disappeared from the vicinities to change into the clothes Kise had forced on him (which were a replica of Kise's, really) the blond turned a smile at the other.

"He's a nice kid."

Aomine grunted noncommittally, "Why're you saying that to me for?" hitting the other for his knowing smirk. But then Kise sobered up a bit, distant eyes staring at nothing.

"Wonder why, though. He seems _too _nice of a kid to be a ghost." He mused, thinking out loud. "Has he told you anything? Like, what school was he in?"

"I have no-"

"I was going to enter Seirin." Tetsuya spoke up from in between them, ignoring Aomine's scream and Kise's hasty retreat.

"Oh my god, Kurokocchi! Say something when you appear, you'll give me a heart-attack like that!" Kise managed to complain in a startled tone as Aomine stopped cursing to hit Tetsuya over the head very softly.

"But I did so…" Shadowboy replied, his wide teal eyes innocent and just the smallest bit resigned.

"'Going to enter'? How old are you again, Tetsu?" Aomine finally calmed down to ask, not even paying attention to the model he had just hit as the other proceeded to coo at the 'innocence' of the other.

"Sixteen."

"Huh? Were you going to transfer schools or something?" Kise asked, rubbing his arm absently (both motions giving proof of how used to each other these two were —or at least to their antics—) while looking at Tetsuya.

"No, I…" And Tetsuya felt weird because there was _someone _right here and now who was not only talking to him but also asking Tetsuya to tell him about himself. The teal-haired ghost very much felt the need to answer but then his previous reluctance returned. It had been enough of a miracle that he could be _seen _he didn't want to screw things up if something he said made them turn away from him.

"You…?" Kise continued obliviously, making Tetsuya start out of his thoughts; neither of them noticing dark eyes scanning them both.

Shadowboy's cheeks visibly reddened for a second but in the blink of an eye it was gone. A sudden glint in his eyes, Tetsuya forced the words to come out, "I fell ill and missed the entrance exams for high school, so I was just going to enter."

There, he had said it. Now would these two leave him for being such a terrible excuse of a person? Tetsuya felt a pang at even thinking about it.

"I see. Well that's too bad. High school was a pretty good time." Kise was the first to answer, a cheerful sort of apology on his face.

"Kise's right. I mean, middle school girls were good, but high schoolers are _hot._" Aomine quipped in, smug smirk in place.

"Oh. I didn't know Aomine was such a pervert." Was what came out of his lips without any conscious thought. Kuroko just knew someday he'd get in trouble for this mouth of his. Though for now he was merely greeted by a spurt of laughter by Kise's part and a friendly scowl by Aomine's.

"Damn right he is and- oh Kurokocchi you're done changing! It… Kurokocchi I'm sorry. I DIDN'T think it would look that big on you…" Kise's enthusiasm was cut a bit by this, as he tried not to laugh at this teen. Ah, but even like that, "It suits you either way! Come here! Let's pose!"

And so, his dilemma momentarily over, Tetsuya was subjected to the whims of one very hyper-active model — who even took the trouble of making his clothes look less baggy, with some sort of fashion secret. Tetsuya was embarrassingly awkward and clumsy and sometimes had to have things repeated to him because he wouldn't notice they were speaking to _him-_ But regardless, he was having fun for maybe the first time of his life.

Kise then dragged both of them to the mall, where Tetsuya had to try on more clothes and pose like this, like that and too late he realized Aomine had been taking pictures all along.

(He barely had time to get embarrassed as he thought about whether ghost would actually appear on a photography when he was accosted by more clothes.)

* * *

><p>In the end, the three of them exited the mall with new outfits for everyone, with Kise happily skipping while Aomine carried a dead-beat Tetsuya over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Or of marshmallows, judging by how much —or little in this case— Tetsuya weighted.<p>

"Oi Tetsu, you have awful stamina, you know that?"

But Tetsuya was saved from having to answer when the ringing of bells announced a Mass. Kise stopped mid-jump, his face sobering unexpectedly and glanced up at the sky before plastering a fake smile and turning to him.

"Sorry guys, I need to leave now. It's midday." He said as all explanation before he walked away with quick, cat-like strides.

"And there he goes again." Aomine muttered dryly, before carrying Tetsuya back to his hideout. Tetsuya stared at the upside-down figure of the blond as he disappeared from his sight, wondering just what had that been.

* * *

><p>"So, had fun?" Aomine inquired to the figure still on his shoulder as he walked down the street.<p>

"Yes."

"He's nice. Though he's a scatterbrain. We'll have to go hunt him down another day so he can teach you the copying technique at the very least." He mumbled, thinking out loud, glancing at the other when he felt small fists clenching at his shirt.

Aomine would have no clue, but his words had suddenly made Tetsuya want to cry. Never would he have imagined he'd hear a "we" directed at him. Nor having as much fun as he had had today.

If this was a dream, Tetsuya hoped for the first time, he'd never wake up.

* * *

><p>"Aomine-kun?" Tetsuya called out just as he was preparing to sleep.<p>

"What." The dark-skinned ghost, clad only in his boxers and dark undershirt glanced back at him.

"Good night," the ghost said with a candid smile before exiting the makeshift room. Aomine scratched his head as he stared at him.

Weird guy.

* * *

><p><strong>AN<strong>

Sorry if it was short, it just felt forced if I tried to continue this. So what did you think about Kise and his abilities? And why does he always disappear at midday? Also I despair at all that possible angst I can't describe, 'cuz if I did, this story would move nowhere T-T. Damn.

We'll see Kise again soon (story-wise), as well as Midorima and Takao in next chapter.

(By the way, guess who won NaNoWriMo 2014? :D )

Edit. Looks like this chapter came out the same day of KnB S3E1! Haizaki's finally onscreen!

Feedback is appreciated.


	4. Chapter 3

"So you're here again, troublesome kid." Aomine drawled on with a sigh of relief at finally finding the ghost he had been looking for. Tetsuya blinked away from his grave to nod politely at him.

"Good morning, Aomine-kun." He replied not at all caring of the glare he received for his words. He turned briefly to his carved name, tilting his head in thought before turning fully to the other, "Let us go somewhere else. I am done here."

'Are you?' Was what Aomine dryly thought but started walking away from the graveyard with Tetsuya beside him. "Anyway, are you waiting for someone or something like that?" He decided to pry a bit, noticing the pale teen pausing in his steps, but his face still showed nothing.

"Not really."

Aomine shrugged to himself before hauling the shorty to Maji's again. He guessed it was alright, not calling out Tetsuya's lie. Not like it really mattered.

* * *

><p>"Why not teach me this technique yourself, Aomine-kun?" Tetsuya inquired looking up from his ghost shake to meet Aomine's eyes.<p>

"It's a pain and Kise's better at it." Aomine said in between munches to his burger. Tetsuya nodded quickly enough and the taller ghost continued, "Anyway, we should better hurry or the idiot will be gone."

"That is rude, Aomine-kun." Tetsuya chided the other before hurrying to keep pace with him, a small smile tugging at his lips.

"Excuse me, does Kise-san leave every day?" Tetsuya asked, hoping Aomine wouldn't be offended by his meddling.

"I'm not sure. I don't exactly go to him every day. But every time I do, he leaves by midday no matter what, so I guess he does. I have no idea what he does then." Aomine answered with another shrug, "anyway, that's part of why Kise is Kise."

Confused by those words, Tetsuya was about to ask for clarification, when he felt someone looking at them. There, right ahead. A stocky and slightly short dark-brown haired student seemed to be frowning in confusion at them, but as Tetsuya kept walking it was clearly not the case. Unnerved when he accidentally ended up passing _through _someone in his distraction, Tetsuya willed his mind away from him and focused on the dark-skinned ghost that had gone on ahead.

"Aomine-kun, you haven't tried asking Kise-san?"

"Where he goes? What for?"

"Are you two not friends?" Aomine stopped in his tracks, allowing two or three living people pass through him while the ghost stared at the other in shock.

"Friends?" He repeated as if that was an unknown notion to him. Which was odd. Tetsuya was pretty certain he was the only one who had had no friends over the course of his life. "I… no, I don't think I'd go that far. We just know each other. Barely so." The taller ghost finally concluded, nodding to himself and Tetsuya inwardly sighed in disappointment. If these two, who were so used to each other, who could banter easily and everything couldn't be called friends… Then what hope did Tetsuya have?

Ah, he was getting over himself again.

"And besides, he died a year ago —I think— and I met him by chance two or three separate occasions before we really started talking." Aomine continued, successfully snapping Shadowboy out of it by raising more questions.

"Is it normal to be a ghost that long?" The question came out of Tetsuya's mouth without chance to stop the words. He really should learn to keep his mouth shut.

"Uh, I really don't think being a ghost is a normal thing by itself." Aomine answered awkwardly and Tetsuya suddenly remembered the other was at least two years into this ghost business.

"I am sorry, I spoke without thinking."

"Uh, no, it's alright. Besides I have no idea. Midorima is also about two years… But I think I've seen others with more time." Aomine mussed, before catching on the first thing to change topics, "Oh, Midorima is another idiot you have to meet. I think he's sorta my rival. Just don't tell him I said so."

"You have my word." Tetsuya promised solemnly and Aomine huffed in amusement before ruffling his hair. They kept walking in silence and the pale boy once again asked without thinking, "Aomine-kun, and what do you do when you are not meeting Kise-kun or Midorima-san?"

This time, Aomine did stop walking, expression closed off for one painful moment before he directed a wry smile at him. "S'rry Tetsu." He said as all answer and went on ahead.

Idiot, the pale boy cursed himself. Speaking without thinking was really a bother. If Kise disappeared it was for reasons he did not want to share, Tetsuya realized belatedly. That's why Aomine did not ask (besides not feeling close enough to do so). Because Aomine also had reasons he did not want to share to anyone.

That his own life as a ghost turned out to be better than his actual life did not mean it had been the same for the rest.

But even so, as Tetsuya stared at the wide back of the other ghost he couldn't help but wonder…

What weighted his shoulders so much?

What did he regret?

.

* * *

><p>"Ah! Kurokocchi! Aominecchi!" Kise Ryota waved enthusiastically upon seeing them, his big wide smile enough to cheer the other two up without even trying.<p>

"Yo! Kise!" Aomine sent back, not waiting for Tetsuya as he walked up to the blond.

"What brings you guys here? Missed me that much?"

"Yeah right. Came back because you forgot to teach Tetsu that copying thing."

"I-if it's not too much of a problem." Tetsuya hastily said, bowing. When he rose, he kept his poker face intact, uncomfortable by the stare of the blond.

"Ah, Kurokocchi,… you really need to stop being so formal." Kise stated before chuckling to himself, only to be stopped by a whack to the head. "Aominecchi!"

"Focus blondie."

"Ah right! Well I'm honored you came to me, actually. It's okay." Kise turned to the shortest teen, nodding happily.

"Thank you." Tetsuya managed to say, feeling a bit lost again. Aomine yawned loudly before telling them both he'd be sleeping over there, leaving them alone.

.

And so it was that the blue-haired, blue-eyed ghost returned to the sight of mountains of clothes and other objects in various levels of disintegration as the newbie lay half-asleep on top of said mountain, with Kise happily rambling about this or the other. Noticing his presence, both ghosts greeted him.

"So?" He prodded the pale ghost with a knowing smirk, noticing the tiredness of the other.

"I learned it." Was Tetsuya's proud reply, his tired smile making the other two pause and look at each other briefly. When Kise next talked, there was a fond smile playing at his lips.

"But you're going to have to keep practicing a lot Kurokocchi!"

"And for that you need stamina I say! It's like you never exercised in your life!"

Tetsuya pouted to the sky, "I was in the literature club in middle school."

"That was not what I was talking about-!"

"Ne, Kurokocchi, what middle school did you say you attended?" The model cut in, his curious nature showing again. Tetsuya once again felt awkward at being asked things about himself.

"Teiko."

"Well fuck me," Aomine whispered out as Kise gave a small shout of joy. Tetsuya lifted his head to stare at the two very different reactions with his poker face. Not sure who to look at, he let his head flop back to continue staring at the sky.

"I can't believe it, Kurokocchi! We went to the same school!"

"Tetsu attended Teiko as well… Boy isn't this a small world." Aomine's weird tone finally made Kise turn to him —as Tetsuya adamantly remained quiet.

"Aominecchi? Is something wrong?"

"Nah. I was just surprised. I mean, Tetsu's sixteen right now. So when we both were in… second? Wait were we already in our third year? " He tried to think but at Kise's confusion he sighed "...Eh, whatever. I meant to say we must have overlapped at some point."

"Whoa, is this fate?" Kise exclaimed, eyes sparkly, dramatic as always but then it hit him, "Wait, but then... There weren't that many students at Teiko and we had to give class to our underclassmen a couple times for a project… I don't remember there being any Kuroko Tetsuya…"

"Nobody does." Was Tetsuya sleepy and plain and resigned reply. "Or nobody did at least. And I don't remember either of you so I guess we simply missed each other. Oh, but I skipped school a lot too."

"Huh, so that part was true." Aomine mussed to himself. He noticed Kise cocking his head and before Aomine's fist reached his stomach, the question poured out,

"What do you mean nobody remembers you?"

But at that moment all the clothes Tetsuya had been lying on vanished at the same time and with a 'thump' Shadowboy met the ground.

The other two burst out laughing.

* * *

><p>Before the teens could fully recover, a bell rang from a school nearby and Kise immediately said goodbye, it was midday after all. But as Tetsuya stared at the departing other he wondered if it was his imagination or did Kise look the smallest bit less tense?<p>

Noticing then that he was butting his nose where he wasn't called again, Tetsuya picked himself up from the floor and dusted himself off before facing Aomine.

"Well, Aomine-kun. I'll be going then. I will be back at your place for the night." Tetsuya bowed, intent on leaving but was immediately stopped by the confused other.

"Whoa, wait, what? Why?" The blue-eyed ghost asked, a sliver of panic slipping in his voice without any of the teens notice.

"I am very grateful that you have been showing me around. And I would appreciate you continue to do so. But I'm sure there are things you want to do and I do not wish to impose." Tetsuya exposed as if from a lecture, the fact that his heart was in his throat not showing in his face. He needed to respect the other's bounds after all.

"No. No, it's alright. I don't… Tetsu is this because of that thing earlier?" Aomine regained himself to ask, perturbingly accurate. Tetsuya only blinked but something else must have given him away because Aomine deflated like a balloon, tension slipping away. "I'm sorry, Tetsu. I didn't mean to make you feel like that."

Tetsuya frowned. That was not what this was supposed to be like.

"Aomine-kun, you do not need to apologize. I-"

"You," Yankee-kun cut him softly, tiredly. "You'd do me a favor, actually. If you would stick to me. I'm not saying you have to!" He immediately exclaimed, blushing faintly, "Just saying that if you don't have anything else to do-"

"Alright."

"Eh-what?"

"If I'm not- If I am not a bother, I would be glad to keep you company, Aomine-kun."

The teen smiled. And promptly dragged him into a semi-headlock.

"Ah, right. Follow me." Aomine spoke out of a sudden as he let Tetsuya go and started walking with brisk steps. Shadowboy hurried to follow.

"Where to?"

"Ah, just to the park." He answered with a smug smile on his face. "I want to read some manga."

* * *

><p>"…Aomine." Tetsuya stayed on the side as he warily eyed the approaching figure, ready to bolt into action should the other need it. (Though given the hidden amused smirk on the other, Tetsuya somehow doubted it.) The dark-skinned male continued reading his comic, unmindful of the fuming other. "AOMINE!"<p>

Tetsuya hid a wince at the loudness, but Aomine merely looked up and finally greeted a furious glasses-wearing ghost.

"Oh, if it isn't Shintaro! What a surprise!" He exclaimed in mock-enthusiasm, smirking all the way. The newcomer seemed to contain his rage as he nonchalantly pushed up his glasses with a bandaged hand. "So, what brings you here?"

Tetsuya thought he faintly heard something snap.

"You are in my territory."

"You're not a dog, don't go sounding like one." Aomine drawled completely unfazed, now shaking the comic in one hand. Shintaro growled out something unintelligible before crossing his arms and spitefully spouting,

"You are in my property."

"'Am not."

The green-haired individual then sighed exasperatedly before magically —how else if not— producing a certificate and smiling strained.

"You see here, I bought this place. If it's not clear enough for your childish mind, then that means that I have every right to kick you out."

This actually seemed to give Aomine pause. He peered closely at the paper, surprise clear in his eyes before he composed himself with a snort.

"And here I thought doctors should be all honest and shit." He added, before eyeing the other with amusement, "So, you're still sore about last time?"

Shintaro huffed, indignant and absolutely _not _sore.

"Want a rematch?"

Tetsuya had to blink at the apparent non-sequitur, but those words apparently made sense to the other as he pushed his glasses up one last time in silence before producing a ball out of _nowhere. _ With some pain, the pale ghost recognized the ball as a basketball. And soon enough they were battling to the death.

* * *

><p>"You-!" Tetsuya lifted his head to see someone —very much alive— rapidly approaching the park, a glower set in a face that seemed unused to such expressions. The black-haired boy marched his way up to the ghosts and to Tetsuya's eternal surprise, he pointed his finger at the uncomfortable-looking Shintaro and finished menacingly, "You ungrateful bastard how dare you take over my body without my consent!? What did you do, Shin-chan? Was it illegal? Was it a girl? Am I going to be framed and sent to jail?" As the words poured out of his mouth, the threat seemed to diminish as the easy-going smile that went more according to his face replaced the frown and Tetsuya suddenly realized that it had been mostly an act.<p>

Meanwhile, Aomine was trying not to choke on his laughter, the raven quirked a smile at him as if thanking his public before patting a smitten ghost on the head. Action that didn't go unnoticed to Tetsuya.

"A-are you telling me that-pfft, you possessed Takao simply to get hold of that paper-?" Aomine managed between chuckles, making the green-haired ghost blush faintly. "Oh, you're unbelievable."

"But isn't that, like, totally Shin-chan-like?" The black-haired individual said with a cheeky grin and Aomine nodded firmly, ignoring the silently mortified other. Meanwhile, Tetsuya had finally snapped out of his surprised and he approached the living being in a daze.

"You can really see us?" Sprouted from his lips before he could contain the very obvious question. Or maybe not so obvious as the teen proceeded to yelp as he spun around to face him, eyes wide as saucers.

"Whoa-what-!" He managed to get out, as he stumbled back, only to narrow in confusion. "Hey hold on a sec, how long have you been standing there?"

"I've been here all along…" Tetsuya mumbled, still bewildered by the other's action. But then… "You can see _me."_

"Tetsu, yer a ghost, don't forget to say 'boo' afterwards," Aomine quipped in, and Tetsuya's shining eyes turned to him.

"Aomine-kun," he informed the other in total seriousness, "he's alive and he can see me."

"Oh, well, there are these special cases where someone has stupidly—" hey!" — powerful vision and … well, you can see it for yourself. It's not exactly common, but it happens. Most seers just pretend they don't see us anyway." Here he shrugged uncaringly, but the sharp-eyed Takao noticed how a frown of worry seemed to crease his brow as the teal-haired ghost seemed overwhelmed for some reason. He had to suppress a sigh when his ever-friendly Shin-chan broke the awkward silence before it even begun without his own notice.

"Whatever. Takao, stop bothering. Aomine, please don't get distracted and let us finish the game." Here he pushed up his glasses while gazing at the court. "And tell the other ghost not to interrupt any longer."

He looked back with narrowed eyes when he felt a chill crawl up his spine, but the teal-haired male seemed as poker-faced as always.

* * *

><p>The game began, with a haughty Shintaro stealing the ball and starting to shoot. Kuroko spent the whole shoot admiring the sheer accuracy of that three-pointer as the ball cleanly entered the net. Aomine was pissed since he hated those moves of his. Once Shintaro was in position, there was no way back. He clicked his tongue when it happened again, but then blinked in surprise at the greenhead's utter astonishment. Just then, he lowered his gaze when he felt a tap and reeled back at seeing a very familiar ball in his possession.<p>

Just what…?

Never one to overthink stuff —especially not mid-game — Aomine smirked, passed by the still surprised Shintaro and delightfully dunked.

.

And it continued happening. The glasses ghost got in quite a few shots —always three pointers— but when he was not fast enough, the ball would just disappear from his hands and end up in his opponents hands. To say the green-haired individual was pissed would be putting it mildly. It clearly didn't help that his living friend was laughing his ass off at their various expressions (apparently he had been the first to spot the phantom helper).

On the other hand, Aomine grinned wolfishly at the other having already caught a glimpse of teal just before the ball clumsily flew over to him again and connected the dots. The player dashed forward and dunked time and time again a wild smile on his face.

One that spoke of love for the game.

* * *

><p>Tetsuya finally collapsed at the edge of the makeshift court, gasping for breath as he focused on seeing how Aomine was faring without him. A smile had started to tug at the corner of his lips at seeing the other's expression but was jerked into attention by a hand on his shoulder. Who-?<p>

"That was amazing!" Takao exclaimed with awe in his grey-eyes, "I kept losing you but then you were there and stole the ball like a pro! And those passes were no joke either!"

Tetsuya stared at him in mute amazement. Putting it to him being still breathless Takao did not seem to be expecting an answer to that, instead looking away at the game already at its ending point.

"That thing you did with Aomine is formidable. I had never seen anything like that," he mused just before an impish smile curved his lips, "And Shin-chan is troubled. Ain't that a sight."

Tetsuya's focus passed from Aomine to 'Shin-chan' and couldn't help but let out a startled laughter seeing the scrunched face of his.

"See?" Takao looked smug at his laugh, but then his attention focused on the pale ghost at his side, "Hey, I don't think I caught your name? My name is Takao Kazunari. The guy over there that ate a lemon is Midorima Shintaro."

Oh. So this was the Midorima Aomine had mentioned earlier.

"A pleasure to meet you, Takao-kun. I am Kuroko Tetsuya."

"Are you travelling or how did you chance upon Aomine?" The seer asked, hiding a frown at noticing again a sort of pain cross the other's features.

"No, I… I was from here. I died just recently and Aomine was very kind to help me." Tetsuya trailed off at the other's shocked expression.

"I'm so sorry Kuroko-san." Takao regained himself to say, before he looked again to the bickering duo farther away before sighing, "Another ghost, huh." But before Tetsuya could ask anything, his forlorn face shifted into a mocking grin as Midorima Shintaro and Aomine glided up to them. "You lost again, Shin-chan?"

"Shut up." He huffed before catching sight of Tetsuya and scowling at him, "It was none of your business, ghost!"

"Whatever do you mean?" Tetsuya asked, trying to mess with the other. Looks like he didn't take kindly to being treated like that.

"You interfered in my match!"

"I was here all along." Tetsuya denied, before turning to the black-haired seer, "Is it not true, Takao-san?"

"That's right!" Takao chirped, happy to be a pain to his friend. Midorima visibly hesitated, looking at both of them suspiciously before scratching his neck and turning away.

"Well, whatever. I'm leaving."

"Ah, wait, Shin-chan!" Takao hastily exclaimed, his hand outstretched but the ghost vanished out of thin air. The action seemingly startling the Living for some reason. But his face, which had started to darken, snapped to smile loosely at Tetsuya.

"Sometimes I forget he can do that." He explained, before he squatted on the floor and started stretching. "Shin-chan's my friend and was my teammate. Since we were little he has always been a bit awkward so… I have to keep an eye out on him even now."

"I see." Kuroko simply said, realizing the reason for Takao's sadness.

He can still talk with his Midorima-san. That's why he sometimes forget he's a ghost.

But then he remembers. Remembers that his friend holds a regret so deep, he has to stay here no matter what.

So that was why,

"If you would like, I would not mind 'keeping an eye out' for Midorima-san's sake." Tetsuya mumbled serenely, fully intent on keeping his promise, even though it would certainly be hard.

"Seriously? You'd do that? You're awesome, thanks!" Takao immediately beamed at him, happy puppy dog eyes making the ghost smile the smallest bit. "Drop the honorifics then! I think you're too polite to call me Kazunari, so Takao's fine!"

And the black-haired seer proceeded to shower Tetsuya with small anecdotes of him and 'Shin-chan' being as talkative as Kise but a bit less overbearing. Tetsuya let him talk, happy that there was again someone that was talking to him, that someone wanted _him _to know about his past.

.

* * *

><p>Aomine approached Tetsuya as Takao waved a cheerful goodbye and strutted away. He let a heavy hand land on his head.<p>

"You do realize," Aomine started, watching Takao disappearing in the distance. The shorter teen tilted his head so he could look back at him, "that Shintaro doesn't even speak to you, right?"

Ah, this might be a little harder than initially supposed.

* * *

><p><strong>AN.<strong>

WOOT! Early chapter! And it's longer!

AND OH MY GOD. I can't believe the amount of support this has received! This early chapter is a thank you for the reviewers and everyone else who fave'd and followed or just even read this thing. THANK YOU.

Detected and managed to correct a massive plot hole with their ages. If you're curious/still confused say so and I'll try to clear it up on another chapter (in an AN I mean).

Do tell me if you spot something else that doesn't add up.

And whoa, lots of things happened this time. I sense that the angst is finally showing its ears. Takao's one of my fav characters haha. With him it's easy to mess with Midorima and looks likes Kuroko has joined in XD. As well as act as his babysitter haha!

So we have three GoM. I wonder when we'll see the rest XD. Btw, can you guess who is the brown-haired teen that Tetsuya noticed?


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